For a few months, we have had Selma being nominated for a lot of Academy Awards. However, snubs at some of the most important awards shows have me asking myself this: are we overhyping Selma as an awards contender?

It seems much less likely now than it once did. This is a massively botched campaign for sure. If Duvernay doesn’t get in at DGA, then I honestly don’t know if it will really get in as much as we thought. I’m pretty close to just dropping it out of everything.

For BAFTA, Selma’s screeners were sent out mid-December, and the voting deadline was January 5th. Enough time for voters to see the film and vote for it, should they have so wished. It had a leading British man (I don’t agree majorly with the BAFTA are Brits biased thing), but he missed out.

Mr Turner was also a shock for how few nods it received, but it still got some. Selma had the capability to get in ANYWHERE, and it was completely missed off.

Has this ever happened before? A movie with this good reviews, this much seeming oscar friendliness in topic, this much buzz, and done this well at some of the precursors (globes and critics choice), been so abandoned be every single other precursor and just fallen as from being such a major contender this quickly? Im genuinely curious if something like this has happened before.

Has this ever happened before? A movie with this good reviews, this much seeming oscar friendliness in topic, this much buzz, and done this well at some of the precursors (globes and critics choice), been so abandoned be every single other precursor and just fallen as from being such a major contender this quickly? Im genuinely curious if something like this has happened before.

Good question. 2007 seemed to have a few films like that: Charlie Wilson’s War, American Gangster, and Zodiac, to a lesser extent, come to mind.

For BAFTA, Selma’s screeners were sent out mid-December, and the voting deadline was January 5th. Enough time for voters to see the film and vote for it, should they have so wished. It had a leading British man (I don’t agree majorly with the BAFTA are Brits biased thing), but he missed out.

Mr Turner was also a shock for how few nods it received, but it still got some. Selma had the capability to get in ANYWHERE, and it was completely missed off.

And Pathe’ of The Queen, The Iron Lady, Philomena, etc. ….. was pushing Selma for BAFTA.

I’m not feeling Selma as much as before. I don’t think it is because of the screener issue, though. It might be because of Hollywood suffering from “racial movie” fatigue. We had 12 Years A Slave, 42, Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, The Butler, and Fruitvale Station last year. So, I’m guessing Hollywood has had enough of those types of films for now.

I can’t tell if “Selma”s campaign is a botch job of historic proportions on Paramount’s part or a clever stroke of genius. Sidestep all the riffraff and only focusing on Academy voters could be a master move that inflences a wealth of Oscar campaigns in the future. On the other hand, not allowing awards momentum and consensus to build up for a complicated work can be both dicey and very problematic. Just having the critics behind you may not be enough. Audience support will be key, so let’s see how opening weekend goes first. All will be revealed next week for “Selma,” good, bad, or otherwise.